Fronsman investigation unique for Muskingum

Saturday

Nov 9, 2013 at 11:47 PM

The Celeste Fronsman murder was the highest profile case in Muskingum County in more than 15 years. Last week, the investigation culminated with the sentencing of the three Canton residents convicted of murdering the 29-year-old woman.

Ed Balint CantonRep.com staff writer @ebalintREP

Hours after a Canton woman was found beaten and burned in rural Muskingum County, investigators were in Stark County looking for those responsible.

Celeste Fronsman, 29, was found Aug. 26, 2012, on a remote road before rising from the pavement and crying out for help from a passing motorist.

Fronsman provided critical evidence with her will to live, said Brady Hittle, a detective with the Muskingum County Sheriff's Department.

She had walked or crawled — maybe both — 1,487 feet out of brush and weeds to state Route 208. Despite burns on 70 percent of her body, she found enough strength to utter the names of those who left her there before she died two days later. A man who helped her scribbled down one of the names for law enforcement.

"If Celeste had not made her way to the roadway ... there's a chance she wouldn't have been found unless a hunter came by that remote of an area," Hittle said. "They would have found bones."

Last week, the criminal case culminated with three Canton residents — LaFonse Dixon Jr., 34, Katrina Culberson, 22, and Monica Washington, 25 — being sentenced to life in prison on charges of aggravated murder, aggravated arson and kidnapping. Only Washington has a chance for parole after she serves at least 25 years.

Washington and Culberson had reached plea deals, testifying against Dixon at his trial late last month. A jury spared him the death penalty. Dixon's attorney said he plans to appeal.

With three convictions and the case now closed, Muskingum County investigators shed light on how they traced the mystery back to Canton and solved the crime.

THE ROAD TO CANTON

The Fronsman case connected inner-city Canton to the Tri-Valley Wildlife Area — an old strip mining site now state-owned and used for hunting.

Mark Bretz, of Newark, had dropped a cow off at a meat locker. He was heading home, reveling in the sun-drenched summer day. At about 8:30 a.m. he saw Fronsman on the remote stretch of road. Moaning and wailing, Fronsman threw herself on the hood of his vehicle.

Bretz called 911. Fronsman told him who left her there to burn alive: Katrina Culberson. At Dixon's trial, he testified that she also gave the names of Dixon and Washington."Detectives were in Canton that afternoon by 4," said Muskingum County Prosecutor Michael Haddox.

Police didn't have much to go on. They were unable to interview Fronsman, who was put in a medically-induced coma due to her pain. She had given her own name. And the last thing she said was her Social Security number.

They had enough to take to Canton and confirm her identity — the burns made it difficult. But the record of a tattoo helped. At that point Hittle was confident Stark County was the place to be.

The detectives soon got well acquainted with Canton streets — the Newton Zone, Shorb Avenue NW and other neighborhoods sprinkled about Canton.

"People helped who you didn't think would because it was that bad of a crime," Hittle said. "It was unimaginable for everyone involved."

But he said the case could not have been solved as quickly and as effectively without the help of the Canton Police Department.

"The amount of help we got from them was unprecedented," Hittle said.

Even the suspects were in disbelief that Fronsman survived long enough to point the finger at them.

"I think they thought they had gotten away with the perfect crime," Hittle said. "I don't think they really believed what I told them — there was shock."

WHY MUSKINGUM COUNTY?

Why would two prostitutes and an alleged drug dealer pick that remote spot?

That's what Zanesville area residents wondered.

"There's no easy way to get to that location," said Ron Welch, assistant Muskingum County prosecutor. It turned out that Culberson had visited the area when she was younger.

There was also shock and disbelief in Zanesville at the violent nature of the crime: "What type of person does that to somebody?"

Welch recalled the late summer day he got the news. "We have a lot of meth labs," he said of his initial reaction. "You hear of meth labs exploding."

But there was no meth, no explosion. Fronsman had been doused with gasoline — after being beaten and then choked with a tow-strap on an early-morning ride from Canton to Muskingum County — and set ablaze.

Fourteen months later, Welch still cringes over the pain Fronsman endured. A doctor told him her lungs couldn't expand fully to draw in air because her skin was so tight from the burns.

"All that comes to mind is divine intervention," said Haddox, Muskingum's prosecutor since 1999. "I don't know how else someone wills themselves to live for that period of time."

HIGH-PROFILE CASE

The case is memorable for its cruelty, Haddox said. "I've been around a good while, and I've had some pretty horrific cases, but this one has to rank in the top three."

The other two also were gruesome: A teenage boy who murdered and dismembered a young girl in the early 1990s. In the other, a 14-month-old girl was found dumped near Dillon Dam after she had been raped.

"We see a lot of things come across our desk," Haddox said, referring to autopsy and crime-scene photos. "But this one will be impossible to get out of my head — just the horrific burns the victim suffered."

It was Muskingum County's highest profile case since a sheriff's deputy was slain in the mid-90s, Welch said. For about two months, Haddox and Welch worked on the Fronsman case — from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. or 11 most days.

This wasn't the first time Muskingum County has received statewide media attention for something unusual and tragic. In October 2011, a man released dozens of exotic animals from cages on his private reserve in the Zanesville area before committing suicide. Authorities killed more than 40 animals, including black bears, Bengal tigers and African lions, citing public safety.

That case garnered even more publicity than the Fronsman murder.

FROM CANTON TO ZANESVILLE

The distance between Canton and Zanesville posed a logistical challenge. But "you either do the work or you don't get the conviction," Haddox said.

"Our sheriff's detectives did a phenomenal job considering the logistics," he said. "They lived in Canton."

Hittle and Todd Mahle, another Muskingum detective, spent a total of about four weeks in Canton, and returned periodically to check on witnesses and continue the investigation.

A Canton officer — Bryan McWilliams — shadowed the detectives, assisting them with finding witnesses and other work. The Muskingum investigators worked out of the Canton Police Department.

Police Chief Bruce Lawver said the department was happy to assist. "I think it was a very appropriate outcome," he said. "It's about getting to the truth."

The crime was based on a false motive, Haddox said. Dixon, who sold crack cocaine, suspected Fronsman of leaking information to Canton police that led to a drug raid, he said. Both Culberson and Washington testified to being crack cocaine addicts.

Fronsman never tipped off police, Lawver said. She also was not a confidential informant, he said.

TRAVEL TIME

The distance — roughly a 90-minute trip — also was an obstacle for some Canton witnesses.

In at least one case, a detective drove a witness from Canton and back, he said. Hotel expenses were covered for about six Canton witnesses. Law enforcement also was posted outside some hotel rooms, Haddox said.

A few shouldn't have bothered to make the trip. They showed up drunk, high or belligerent — in one case, maybe all three, Welch said. They were not put on the witness stand.

"It's happened before," Haddox said of witnesses showing up soused or high. "That wasn't the first time, (but) that number in that case, that's unique."

But the prosecutor said he was not left with a negative impression of Canton.

"I don't think anybody had the feeling this was the run-of-the-mill Canton folk coming down to our county," he said. "I think everyone realizes every community has its bad apples, so to speak."